tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post1793089516851010471..comments2024-03-21T22:19:26.920-05:00Comments on A Follow Spot: Keeping Up with Casting: MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at ISUJulieKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12521424567356348282noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post-17100482274506453752013-01-07T15:06:24.884-06:002013-01-07T15:06:24.884-06:00I have no compunction about omitting Marceau. I...I have no compunction about omitting Marceau. I'll list just one of a pair if I feel like it. As I did elsewhere, obviously.<br /><br />I knew Christian Bale already at that time -- he'd played a central "boy" role in Empire of the Sun and then the page, just slightly older, in Branagh's Henry V. So he was in the process of building an adult career with MND. Dominic West was only a name to me then; what a kick it'd be to see his performance again now! In fact, I think I want to.<br /><br />The only thing that I wonder about Deborah Rush is whether she could pull of the short-and-dark identity for Hermia, especially when the two girls start dredging up their schoolgirl insults to hurl at each other (one of the moments when Shakespeare's psychology seems so startlingly modern, and right in the middle of a fantasy too!). Baranski of course can do the tall-and-blonde one without problem.<br /><br />That physical feature (so often oddly ignored in casting the play) is wonderfully right in the video of Benjamin Britten's opera of the play, shown here: http://www.bing.com/movies/search/overview?id=4040dc58-9002-4dfa-b647-d428c007812a&q=A+Midsummer+Night's+Dream+(Glyndebourne) (I couldn't find any online video from it). In that cover shot, Helena is trying to recall when they were chums "both sitting on one cushion), while Demetrius looks on. This opera is one of my very favorite things.JAChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10942256334004773509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post-68369323424147033892013-01-07T13:19:00.579-06:002013-01-07T13:19:00.579-06:00I had David Strathairn on the list at first, but t...I had David Strathairn on the list at first, but then I thought I would have to add Sophie Marceau plus I didn't have Stanley Tucci yet, so I removed the wonderful David Strathairn. My dilemmas are so odd!<br /><br />I remember the 1982 TV version -- I like Jeffrey DeMunn a lot, too -- but I have no memory of either Deborah Rush or Christine Baranski, who certainly seem like ideal casting. I do recall that I thought William Hurt was weird as Oberon. I guess the guys cast opposite Rush and Baranski (Kevin Conroy and Rick Lieberman) didn't do as well for themselves. Unlike the Demetrius and Lysander in the 1999 film. Who'd expect Christian Bale as Demetrius now? Or Dominic West of "The Wire" as Lysander?JulieKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12521424567356348282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post-32937162669078446882013-01-07T12:15:09.215-06:002013-01-07T12:15:09.215-06:00Not forgetting David Strathairn as Duke Theseus!
...Not forgetting David Strathairn as Duke Theseus!<br /><br />Casting for this play is always fun to talk about, because with the 3 or 4 different stories, there are a lot of roles to make vivid. I saw the American Shakespeare Festival's tour of the play in 1960, with Bert Lahr as Bottom, Will Geer and William Hickey among the mechanicals, and 21-year-old Mariette Hartley as Helena. My 8th-grade heart fell madly in love with it all.<br /><br />Then there was the 1982 "Shakespeare in Central Park" performance aired on A&E or some such. William Hurt as Oberon; Emmanuel Lewis as the changeling boy; Ricky Jay as Philostrate; Diane Venora as Hippolyta; Jeffrey DeMunn as Bottom. Hermia and Helena were Deborah Rush and Christine Baranski.<br /><br />Michael Pennington has written one of his User's Guides on this play, having directed it for an outdoor production.JAChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10942256334004773509noreply@blogger.com